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Stamp Act
The Stamp Act (formally the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a direct tax on the British colonies and plantations in America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the stamp tax had to be paid in valid British currency, not in colonial paper money. The British Prime Minister, George Grenville, was determined to raise tax revenues from the American colonists. It had become the conventional wisdom among Britain's ruling elites that the recently-concluded French and Indian War had been fought on behalf of the American colonists, and that it was incumbent on the Americans to help pay down that national debt, which had risen from £72 million in 1755 to nearly £130 million in 1764. Grenville had introduced the Sugar Act in 1764, and announced that he was also considering a stamp tax. This would represent the first internal tax to be levied on the colonies by Parliament. Despite protests and petitions from the colonies, Parliament passed the Stamp Act on 22 March 1765 with an effective date of 1 November. It passed 205-49 in the House of Commons and unanimously in the House of Lords. Jurisdiction over violations of the Stamp Act was given to the admiralty courts, another innovation. In Virginia on 30 May 1765, the House of Burgesses passed a series of resolutions drafted by Patrick Henry denying Parliament's right to tax the colonies. Seven days later, the Massachusetts lower house called for a general meeting of colonial representatives in New York City to consult on a response to the Stamp Tax. At the same time, there was a growing series of spontaneous protests against the Stamp Tax by ordinary colonists. These protests gave rise to a clandestine organization called the Sons of Liberty that extended throughout the thirteen colonies. Residents of the colonies who had accepted positions as distributors of the stamped paper were intimidated by mob action into resigning. In New York City, over 200 merchants met and agreed to import nothing from Britain until the Stamp Act was repealed. Other embargoes of British goods were established elsewhere in the colonies. In October 1765 the Stamp Act Congress met in New York City, made up of representatives from nine of the thirteen colonies. The Congress produced a Declaration of Rights and Grievances that was drawn up by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. The Declaration asserted that the colonists possessed all the rights of Englishmen, and that since they had no voting rights in Parliament, Parliament could not represent the colonists. Unlike the disenfranchised majority in Britain, the Americans were represented by their own colonial assemblies, and so only the assemblies had a right to tax the colonies. The Declaration also asserted that the extension of authority of the admiralty courts to non-naval matters represented an abuse of power. The Declaration was sent to King George III as well as to both Houses of Parliament. Word of the spreading resistance to the Stamp Act, including the embargoes, reached London in October. Pressure from British merchants, along with Grenville's replacement by Lord Rockingham in July, led to a reconsideration of the Stamp Act. When Parliament reconvened on 14 January 1766, the Rockingham ministry formally proposed repeal of the Stamp Act. In February, Secretary of state Henry Conway introduced the Declaratory Act, which affirmed the right of Parliament to tax the colonies "in all cases whatsover," while admitting the inexpediency of attempting to enforce the Stamp Act. On 21 February a resolution to repeal the Stamp Act was also introduced. Both the Declaratory Act and the repeal of the Stamp Act were passed on 18 March 1766. Category:Legislation of Great Britain